When it comes to embracing the spirit of Florida’s “Sunshine Laws,” some local governments have a long way to go.

The First Amendment Foundation surveyed websites created by cities and counties to provide citizens with information for Sunshine Week, a time set aside to honor Florida’s strong tradition of public meeting and open records law.

On average, such websites earned 52 out of 100 possible points on a transparency scorecard created by the Foundation.

Local governments saw above average scores: The City of Pensacola scored 74, the third-highest total of the 47 cities scored by the Foundation; Fort Walton Beach, (the closest neighboring city scored) earned 70.

Santa Rosa County scored 64, and Escambia County’s site scored 58 out of 100 points.

The highest scoring county in the state was Sarasota with an 84; the lowest scoring was Liberty with a 5.

The websites were evaluated by journalism students at the universities of Florida, South Florida and Miami, who were asked if they could find specific information – ranging from budgets to neighborhood crime information – through a reasonable search.

While most websites offered convenient links to everyday functions – seeking a permit, finding a park or bidding for a government contract – few made it easy for citizens to request public records, the Foundation reported.

“Many city and county websites include the stated goals of ‘transparency’ and ‘accountability,’” said Barbara Petersen, president of the Tallahassee-based FAF. “But this survey shows that, in many ways, these governments fall short of those goals.

“On most websites, it’s far easier to pay a water bill than it is to find out how much a government is paying to run the water department – and who’s selling services to the department.”

The survey rated information available under seven categories: financial, accountability, public meetings, contact information, public records, ease of use and other features, such as whether citizens could check on reported crimes in their neighborhoods.

The scorecard looks at seven categories: financial, accountability, public meetings, contact information, public records, ease of use and other features, such as zoning and building regulations, links to property assessments, and links to check on crime reported in neighborhoods.

Via news release, Mayor Ashton Hayward praised the redesigned and updated www.cityofpensacola.com, launched last year, for its improved usability.

Resident scan use it to sign up for email and text message alerts about a variety of topics as well as the ability to submit, track, and view public records requests online.

Earlier this year, Hayward announced a goal of closing 80 percent of public records requests in seven days or less by the end of 2014. Among the 101 completed requests initiated thus far in 2014, the average time to close is 5.58 days. 68.63 percent of completed requests initiated in 2014 were closed in seven days or less.

“We’ve made great progress toward increasing transparency, but there’s always room to improve,” Hayward said in the release. “Like every other aspect of our city government, I’m always looking for ways to be better and more efficient.”

Kathleen Dough-Castro, Escambia’s public information manager is on vacation, but she responded by email that she, the county's IT director and the budget director have been in contact regarding this report.

“We are always working to improve the web site,” she wrote. “It is a continuous work in progress.

“I am proud of our high scores in the areas of ‘public records’ and ‘functionality.’ When we redeveloped the site in 2012, we worked very hard at making the site accessible to those who would have no knowledge of our governmental structure,” she wrote.

Castro wrote that staff who are involved in developing content and web site architecture are evaluating the sites of counties that scored well in areas where Escambia did not in order to provide suggestions as to how to improve.

“Please note that some of the lower scoring areas would involve cooperation from other constitutional offices and we will be reaching out to them as well,” she wrote.

Santa Rosa County public information officer Joy Tsubooka said she will use the Foundation’s report to see where www.santarosa.fl.gov can improve.

That will include looking at the counties and cities that scored higher than Santa Rosa to see what information they have and how it is presented.

“I saw that we missed out on points for information that is currently available on our site like budget revenue, employees, agenda packets, and meeting minutes,” Tsubooka said. “I need to read through their criteria in more detail to see why we missed those points and how we may incorporate changes to our current site. We also lost points for not having crime reports, but that does not fall under the (board of county commissioners).”

Tsubooka said two sections of the county’s website — library services and emergency management —  are being redesigned to be more user friendly, including incorporating mobile responsive design to make navigation easier on mobile devices.

Those revisions are due to be rolled out this summer.

“It's important to receive feedback like this report because it does make us take a deeper look at how information is presented and if it is easily understood and navigated by the average citizen who may not be familiar with county government,” she said.

Read the Foundation’s statewide review here http://floridafaf.org/faf-report-card-local-government-website-transparency/

Check how cities fared here and how counties measured up here.

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